The Problematic of the Unproblematic

Dear Readers, today, I present you with a special kind of Guest Post ... Not long ago, I was contacted on this blog's Facebook page by a person without a blog, lets call her Nabi (as in 나비), who is still suffering from the after-effects of Faith. And because Nabi wanted to have closure, Nabi wrote a long and detailed review. But what good is a review if nobody but the reviewers gets to see it, right?! I immediately agreed to help Nabi to get over the agony that some KDramas can inflict on us by posting the review on this blog. It's a total win-win situation for everyone. Enjoy. *** Faith , how did you disappoint me?   Let me count the ways... I'm not savvy enough to pinpoint exactly where this series went awry -- whether it was the writing, the directing, the editing, the acting, or some lethal combination of the above – but it was, without a doubt, a series that I should have loved, but didn't. So here is my effort to reconcile the potential I thought ...

Now that Gu Family Book is drawing to a close *sigh*... ( Little Recap: DaddyHo comes back hotter than ever, his heart is small and black but his hair is full and his posture good. Kang-Chi and Yeo-Wool KISSS!!!! and then make googley eyes at each other for the next couple of episodes. Bad Guy *boo. hiss.* is exceedingly evil but kinda dumb and keeps getting thwarted. There's noble sacrifice and noble idiocy and HEA??? Episode 24 is airing as I write this so TBD. ) EDIT: $?# GFB crashed and burned in episode 24. I almost don't wanna watch...infact! I think I'm going to watch the last 10 minutes of the episode coz I wanna see LSG with short hair and green eyes.  Major thanks to GF at dramabeans.com for this pic (I have neither the skill nor time to take screenshots)

I'll tell you what a Gisaeng is not. Gisaeng is not quite the Korean version of Geisha. Gisaeng were designated as 'slave/lower caste'. Many were trained in art, music, literature and medicine. They were 'owned' by the provincial governments. The well educated ones served in the royal palace and entertained noble men. Gisaeng were not technically prostitutes either at the beginning. Gisaeng do not exist in modern Korean Society.

aka. Why everybody is afraid of puppy LSG LSG = Lee Seung Gi First off, it may seem that this blog community is watching one of two show *cuts eyes at the squeecaps people* but that's not the case! Some of us *cough* me *cough* are watching Gu Family Book (GFB)! GFB is an epic story of a young gumiho who wants desperately to be human. Why? you ask. What's a gumiho? Why is it bad? Why can't he learn to love himself for who he is!!! What's not to love? Well, Gumiho stands for nine tailed fox. A Gumiho is a mythical creature ound in Korean, Japanese and Chinese fables/legend/myths. It's kind of like a bad fairy or a shapeshifter. The Gumiho is a carnivore and traditionally takes on the guise of a woman to trick/lure men to their doom (where have we heard that story before?)

Why this Drama? Coz it's called happy ending....It's actually pretty sad tho. But I like the title. One thing you can say about Kdramas their endings are always inspiring. Sometimes because they’re just so sweet and justified and right (most times because they’re just so gosh darn awful you can’t believe the actors didn’t perform hari-kiri when they read the final scripts). But they are always…always better than real life (RL). Don’t believe me? Imagine these scenarios.   1.       Your immediate boss is giving you hell and you’re ready to quit. You don’t care about the economy, you just want out! And you want out yesterday! RL ending: You hand in your letter of resignation and go home. As you’re eating seaweed ( Gim ) in bed and crying over the ending of Heartstrings you realize you haven’t finished updating your resume. FYL. Kdrama ending:   Just after you handing your letter of resignation the CEO...  (who...

You're a young trainee. You work your butt off because you know at the end of the day you'll be a star.   You'll try stand our from all your group mates... And your song will be on everybody's lips.... BAD BOY by BIG BANG BAD BOY by Mighty Mouth ft. Soya BAD BOY by Wonder Girls BAD BOY by Son Dambi BINGEUL BINGEUL (Round and Round) by Big Bang BINGEUL BINGEUL (Round and Round) by Crayon Pop BINGEUL BINGEUL (Round and Round) by Nami BINGEUL BINGEUL (Round and Round) by T-ARA BINGEUL BINGEUL (Round and Round) by U-KISS BINGEUL BINGEUL (Round and Round) by YB No! No! You're not with a company that churns out robo idols You're with YG!! Where you'll be allowed to show your individuality and sing original songs FIRE - 2NE1 FIRE - SHINee Oops. No? Ok. You're a musician in the western world, sneering at the kpop music factory. Your industry celebrates the individual and has unique concepts!! and your songs will ...

Sorry for the haitus. I've given up Kdrama and Variety Shows for Lent and trying to avoid temptation (being a Christian is hard sometimes). OTP:   One True Pairing. The characters that you know will end up together by the end of the show. Usually obvious. She made it happen Power Rangers: Not the original power rangers. These guys are from fusion saguek Rooftop Prince. So cute! I never liked pink ranger anyways YG Entertainment: Home of BigBang, 2ne1, Seven, Psy. The cool kids of Kpop. YG artists are known for their individuality, playfulness and badassery. SM Entertainment: Known as the Kpop factory. SM has a reputation of treating its idols badly and having some pretty large groups (SuJu is like the Duggers, 15 and counting hehe). It's home to some of the most successful groups in Kpop.... Which of these is not in a group? ..trick question Second Lead Syndrome:   When you think the lead is a jerk/douche/horrible/not your bias and you would rath...

Today's post is going to be about the food found in KDramas when a scene is staged in a restaurant or pojangmacha.  Warning: drool can be hazardous to your keyboard. Restaurants in Korean Dramas are as ubiquitous as the evil Mother-in-law. From humble to elegant, they can set the stage for either cute moments or disastrous scenes.  Here they are, in no particular order. JOKBAL -  Braised Pig's Feet (or Pig Trotters) A link to the Visit Korea Tourism site calls jokbal "Chewy Memories of The Past".   Well, I'm not sure how far in the past you should go, but they were Ji-an's favorite pregnancy food in I Do I Do (2012) , and So-young's love of the meat in Baby-faced Beauty (2005) made Jin-wook happy.  And anything that makes Daniel Choi happy, makes me happy too! Jokbal is made by boiling pig's feet or the shank portion of the front legs over several hours in a mixture of soy sauce, rice wine, garlic, cinnamon sticks, green onions, g...

Please give a warm welcome to a new guest blogger Lemna gibba! It's her first blog post ever and I am very proud to have her write it for this particularl blog :) - kakashi Honestly, I was quite pumped for this drama. The background had already been set by Faith , so all it had to do was continue the historical tale. And yet, and yet..I could write the most verbose exposé on this show. But I'll keep it short and sweet. Let's start with what they got right. *Spoilers ahead* Mok Do-Ryoong Portrayed by Choi Jae-Woong, Mok Do-Ryoong is probably the only consistent character in the whole drama. He plays the seer who finds the Purple Enclosure Site (which is the cause of all worries) and actually DIES protecting the site because of his belief in it! His love for the princess Young-Ji and for Ji-Sang (Ji Sung) puts him up there for husband and father of the year. He had a pretty awesome eye patch too! Lee Seung Gye Ji Jin Hee nails this role, transitioning f...

In a KDrama, the setting is sometimes more important than the story.  Where an event takes place can show a lot about a character.  Whether you are are alone crying in your beer, or partying with a bunch of your best-and-brightest, the correct watering hole will set the perfect tone. “People who drink to drown their sorrows should be told that sorrow knows how to swim.” – Ann Landers TYPES OF KDRAMA DRINK LOCATIONS - POJANGMACHAS Pojangmachas are one of the most prevalent locations in KDramas to drink.  CNN included p’machas as part of their Travel site:  CNN's Guide to Pojangmachas!    In 2012, there were approximately 3,100 of them in Seoul alone.  There’s a reason for this: they offer cheap eats and lots of alcohol. ( Just a quick side note: I only included the CNN P'macha link, but in that article there are also links to various makgeolli or mixed drink bars in Seoul, in case, yunno, you want to do further research. ) They co...